1

Occupying in California: Voices and Contexts

An Ethnographic Take on the Occupy Movement

Written and compiled by Hannah Hart, Kristy

Keller, and Bethany Grove

San Jose State University Department of Anthropology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………2

Occupy Oakland…………………………………………………………………………..5

Occupy the Bay…………………………………………………………………………...9

Occupy the Coast……………………………………………………………………….14

Who are the Occupiers?...............................................................18

Networking………………………………………………………………………………..26

The Future of Occupy…………………………………………………………………31

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………33

Sources and Related Readings……………………………………………………35

2

INTRODUCTION

We created this pamphlet with the intention of providing a resource

to Occupiers who are interested in learning from the experiences of

local Occupies and the Occupiers who are a part of them. We hope

that in doing so this resource can benefit those who have been

involved with Occupy and would like to learn more about what is

being done on the ground in other cities. It can also be helpful for

those who are interested in learning more about what Occupy is

and how it has manifested in various locations. We are putting this

pamphlet together at the one year anniversary of Occupy Wall

Street to consider the origins of the movement, what happened in

different parts of California as it evolved over the last year, as well

as to gather and share thoughts on where the movement is headed

into its second year. After initially being drawn to the Occupy

movement, our connections and histories in different parts of

California led us to participate in Occupy Oakland, Occupy the Bay*,

and Occupy the Coast* respectively, three very different Occupies

that each make unique contributions to what it means to Occupy.

As Occupiers, we hope to use our background as applied

anthropology students to contribute to the movement. This is in no

way intended to be an objective account of the Occupy

movement—it is shaped by our experiences and participation, just

as the perceptions of Occupy held by other Occupiers have been

shaped by theirs. While we do not claim objectivity, we do have a

strong commitment to protecting the identity of the Occupiers who

spoke with us and adhering to their wishes in terms of

confidentiality to the best of our ability. We hope that this resource

is useful as the movement continues to grow and change. We

appreciate all those we have learned from and had an opportunity

to speak with along the way.

*Pseudonyms have been used for these Occupy sites.

How can anthropology contribute to an understanding of Occupy?

While there are many perspectives we can use when considering

the Occupy movement, anthropology is well-situated to encompass

many of the features which set Occupy apart. First, anthropology’s

cross-cultural perspective allows for the possibility of considering

the movement both as a whole and in terms of individual cities. In

this respect, it provides the ability to examine unique contexts

within cities that shape the direction of a particular Occupy group

while also understanding how this group fits into the broader,

global Occupy movement. Encompassing the local as well as the

global provides the necessary context for understanding the

complexity of Occupy and all that it entails, from why it came about

to the participants and the social life of the movement. Secondly,

media coverage of Occupy is often hindered by its insistence on

finding sound bites, leaders, and concrete demands (all of which

have caused frustration when dealing with Occupy). Anthropology

provides a much deeper understanding of the movement and its

goals, allowing them to coexist together as opposed to having to

pick one. Unlike the mainstream media, an anthropological

approach does not assume that a leaderless movement committed

to direct democracy and without an all-encompassing list of

demands will necessarily be inherently ineffective. For these

reasons, using an anthropological perspective can provide a

viewpoint on the Occupy movement that the mainstream media

often lacks and that is able to take into account the complexities

and variability within the movement.

3

A Brief History of Occupy and How It Has Changed

Precedents: The Global Justice movement, Argentina, and the Arab

Spring

While Occupy represents a new type of protest effort in the United

States enabled by a confluence of social media technology, the

movement has its roots in the global justice movement of the last

couple decades as well as social movement trends that date even

further back. The need for horizontality, consensus, diversity, and

communication between activists spread worldwide can all be

traced back to the movements of the 1960s, where movement

participants were only just beginning to consider and come to terms

with these ideas (Maeckelbergh 2009:8). In 1999, the idea that “all

struggles are linked and all oppression is rooted in the same

structural problems” came to global attention in the form of the

World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, seen as a major event

in the Global Justice or anti-globalization movement (Maeckelbergh

2009:1). Facilitated by the developing technology of the listserv, the

Global Justice Movement was able to connect movement actors

from around the world into a “movement of movements” (Juris

2012:267). Through such actions as the World Social Forum, the

Global Justice movement worked to not only bring about a more

just, horizontal, directly democratic world but also utilized these

values in their day-to-day operations (Juris 2012:267). The protests

in Argentina following the 2001 financial collapse in that country,

including the popular takeover of factories, have also been seen as

precedents for Occupy. More recently, the actions of citizens

involved in the Arab Spring to make deep societal change by

overthrowing their governments have been seen as an inspiration

for the Occupy movement in the United States. Like Occupy, social

media (specifically Twitter), has been given considerable credit for

helping to mobilize and coordinate the actions of citizens involved

in these protests.

The American Autumn: Encampments, Direct Action, and

Technology

The origins of the first iteration of Occupy Wall Street can be traced

back to a mid-July 2011 email from Adbusters magazine which

established the Twitter hashtag #OccupyWallStreet as well as the

September 17th date (Schneider). Anarchists, artists, and academics

(these categories are not mutually exclusive) were central in

mobilizing activists and shaping the practices of OWS. Within a

month, there was mobilization both online (from groups such as

Anonymous) and on the ground, as organizers met in New York to

plan their next move, many of them coming from an encampment

called Bloombergville that had been established to protest the

mayor’s layoffs and social service cuts (Schneider). Occupy Wall

Street held its first action in New York City on September 17th, 2011,

which was followed by the occupation of Zuccotti Park. From there,

as media coverage of the movement grew (including coverage of

police efforts to stop the protests) and activists spread what they

were doing, branches of Occupy sprang up in cities around the

United States and the world, marking a shift to “Occupy

Everywhere.” Globally, two key sites of action were Kuala Lumpur,

where Occupy Dataran began in the summer leading up to OWS and

Spain, where the moment tied into preexisting discontent about the

state of the nation’s economy (Gabbat et al. 2011).

4

The early weeks of the movement were characterized by the

encampments, direct actions, inclusivity, and extensive use of

technology to mobilize activists. The encampments facilitated the

infrastructure of the Occupation, as they became self-sustaining

communities with committees allowing participants to contribute to

each other in whatever ways they felt best able. The encampments

also showed an alternative to the capitalist state, providing a visible

contrast to its inefficiencies and structural inequality. Direct actions

took a variety of forms during this period, ranging from marches to

bank protests and port shutdowns. As Occupy grew, efforts were

made to bring others into the movement, including unions, other

activist networks, and historically disenfranchised groups and

neighborhoods. Just as Occupy did not have a single set of demands

it was also not limited to one type of activist or cause. Throughout

the movement, technology has played an important role in

mobilizing participants, whether through Twitter, Facebook, or

livestream. This technology has not only allowed for rapid

mobilization but has also allowed a parallel protest to exist digitally,

whether through the actions of those in Anonymous or the

conversation among those watching livestreaming video coming

from a protest. Nonetheless, some have commented that unlike the

email listservs of the Global Justice movement, the Twitter-verse

inhabited by Occupy does not allow for the kind of thoughtfully,

sustaining commentary that created long-term links among activists

worldwide (Juris 2012:267).

Spring/Summer 2012: Outreach, New Occupations and Creative

Actions, General Strike, and Inter-Occupy Communication

As the encampments were largely broken up in the late fall and

early winter of 2011, Occupiers began looking for new ways to

mobilize without having a central space in which to ground their

organization. This evolution has involved several major trends,

including a turn to local issues (as well as the staying visible locally),

inter-Occupy communication, large-scale mobilizations, and internal

community building. While still focused on national issues,

Occupiers increasingly looked to address issues within their cities

(like homelessness) through new actions such as occupying houses

and taking over other buildings to deal with foreclosure challenges

locally. Following the end of the encampment, Occupiers were

largely written off by the mainstream media although efforts

persisted to carry on marches and other local direct actions to

maintain a presence in the community. Efforts have also been made

to form new relationships with other community organizations and

to spread the message of Occupy locally. Internally, Occupiers have

worked to strengthen community within their organizations to deal

with burn-out and disagreements, such as by hosting events for

Occupiers to come together outside of protests to cultivate the

sense of community that may have dissipated after the Occupation.

Larger Occupies such as Occupy Oakland have also worked to

organize major protests/days of action such as May Day, in order to

mobilize supporters. More broadly, Occupiers have worked to

communicate amongst themselves by traveling between Occupies

and making other efforts to learn from each other. They have also

continued to re-evaluate their goals, values, and efforts, such as

“Re-imagining the General Assembly,” the “Values Workshop” in

5

the Bay, and the Occupy National Gathering (focused on the

envisioning the future of democracy).

OCCUPY OAKLAND

Actions and Strategies

Occupy Oakland (OO) has earned a worldwide reputation within the

larger Occupy movement, and one that has been characterized by

the mainstream media as having a particularly radical and militant

angle. Media coverage has focused mainly on clashes between

protestors and police, the shooting of Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen

by the Oakland Police Department (OPD), and excessive repression

as seen in the arrest of over 400 protestors during the January 28th

Move-In Day action. While these events have been central to

activists’ focus on police brutality in Oakland, OO has achieved an

array of successes in other areas and is represented by a far more

diverse community of committed activists than the media has

portrayed.

Successful maneuvers at organizing include city-wide actions such

as the November 2nd General Strike that brought thousands of

Oakland citizens into the streets, the shutdown of the Oakland port

during the December 12th West Coast Port Shutdown, and the

subsequent general strike on May Day of 2012. Smaller-scale

actions include temporarily shutting down banks, disrupting

foreclosure auctions, protesting school closures, and organizing

community-based outreach campaigns to educate the public about

pressing issues (such as the shooting of unarmed African American

teenager Alan Blueford by OPD, or how the rising costs of AC transit

bus fare disproportionately affect Oakland’s poorest citizens). OO

has had over 20 committees and working groups ranging from Labor

Solidarity and Anti-Repression, to Foreclosure Defense and the

Tactical Action Committee. Since the encampment, internal conflict,

divisiveness, organizing burnout, and successful counter-insurgency,

have left many protestors discouraged. Yet those who have turned

away from OO have often created parallel projects that more

closely represent their values and goals, such as Decolonize

Oakland, revealing the enduring commitment of activists who take a

variety of approaches to social change.

Unfortunately, one of the most sensationalized aspects of OO, from

outside as well as within the movement, has been OO’s embrace of

a diversity of tactics, or rather, that it has not passed a resolution to

support only “nonviolent” action. While some proponents of

nonviolent civil disobedience strongly feel that a failure to shun

property destruction will only serve to alienate the general public,

the degree of attention that has been paid to this particular issue

has distorted the larger picture. The overwhelming majority of

Occupiers in Oakland have not engaged in property destruction,

some are openly against it, and some support such tactics even if

they don’t personally partake in them. The vilification of the black

bloc is problematic in that most protestors who cover their faces

6

and brandish shields are not breaking anything, rather, they are the

ones who head to the front of a march with shields to protect

themselves and their comrades from police projectiles that have

been indiscriminately deployed against protestors (peaceful

activists, not so peaceful activists, families with children, etc.).

What is most significant is that people on both sides of the tactics

debate, with many taking a neutral position, continue to participate

in OO actions on the basis that the imperative is to address the

everyday structural and institutional violence that harms people

living in Oakland. This goal is seen by many as more important and

realistic than trying to control a handful of protestors who may try

to break some bank windows.

Jesse: If people come and they break things, they are inherently not

adherent to anything anyone says, so there’s no point in having the

discussion. It’s a criminal matter, and we can approach it. I, myself,

and other people who live down here confront the vandals

physically. And the people who want to pass condemnation against

them…they don’t do that. And, you know, they don’t respect or

study why these young people are doing it. And it is a fact, an

uncomfortable reality that mass property damage has amounted in

the billions of dollars over the course of decades nationwide as a

result of high-profile instances of police brutality. LA, for instance,

resulted in a change in police protocol without resolving the

problems of mental illness, corruption, and racism. So, as far as

reform and revolution, vandalism is an effective means of reform.

And it might even be counter-revolutionary as reform methods are

commonly critiqued, but people aren’t really having an honest

discussion about it. I believe this is largely due to a generation gap

in activists. There’s young people, and people with grey hair. And

people my own age…we’re very obscure. Political activism was un-

cool when I was growing up. A lot of that is the fallout of

COINTELPRO: destroying the Black Panthers and creating gangs.

You know, when I was a kid we didn’t have the internet to talk with

everyone, to have the discussion. I had to study Marx on my own

and I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. And now they do, and

it’s cool again. I don’t think people really respect and appreciate it -

- that, ok, so maybe they’re doing the most youthful thing, that’s

great. That’s the thing, when I talk about people changing, the

individuals who do this, they’re very brave, and they’re putting

themselves at risk, and they believe that it’s what they need to do to

be a good person, and to make the world a better place. That’s

what they believe. Whether they’re right or wrong is irrelevant

because it’s whether they rise to that challenge, or if they’re

cowardly and they just cheer for it.

The preoccupation over tactics has also detracted from what is seen

as the most important and meaningful work to many activists in

Oakland (including those who participate in the black bloc): the

opportunity to build a self-sustaining and supportive community

that can provide for its participants in a way that a government in a

capitalist nation simply will not. In discussing the successes of OO,

most protestors mention feeding and housing the homeless (as well

as each other), providing safe spaces for children and youth, and

fostering empathy and education through outreach to Oakland

citizens. In addressing local injustice, a great deal of energy has

been spent on addressing the ongoing legacy of police violence in

Oakland, which has ravaged low-income communities of color, and

has been felt to a considerably less degree by Occupier’s who’ve

been on the receiving end of police batons, rubber bullets, tear gas,

7

and repeated trips to jail for their participation. The Tactical Action

Committee, consisting mainly of young people of color who were

born and raised in Oakland, organized the only ongoing weekly

event at OO aside from the General Assembly. The weekly Fuck the

Police march has been one of the most diverse actions at OO,

drawing many participants from among the local citizenry, as well as

those newer to the city who are appalled by the extent of violence

that occurs on Oakland streets. Those who have witnessed years to

decades of police brutality in their communities feel particularly

compelled to fight back and demand accountability from a police

force that is best known for their failure to “protect and serve.”

Reform versus Revolution

The word “revolution” tends to evoke images of violence, war, and

suffering, yet not everyone believes that revolution has to come

about in that way. While many Occupiers feel a revolution of some

sort is needed, activists have been participating in revolutionary

action since the beginning of the Occupation in Oakland. It may be

true that Occupy Oakland can be characterized as radical and

militant in comparison to other Occupies, but this must be

understood as much in terms of the dedication among activists to

provide for the community those daily necessities that the city will

not (such as food and shelter), as it is for the infrequent occurrences

of property destruction.

The array of injustices that occur in Oakland has particularly shaped

the movement’s trajectory, and reinforces the urgency with which

activists in Oakland feel obligated to work together, despite a

struggle over values and strategies. This urgency coincides with

continued police repression, counter-insurgency efforts, the

increasing hyper-militarization of the police force, and the failure of

the city to address acts of police brutality that disproportionally

affect people of color. While there is no overarching ideology at

OO, participants ranging from teenaged to elderly often mention

the need to abolish capitalism in the struggle to overcome everyday

violence. Such violence is seen as a consequence of the racism,

classism and sexism administrated by patriarchal American

institutions.

To identify the cause of social, economic, and political oppression in

this manner may seem radical in comparison to the analysis or

propaganda common at other Occupy sites. It is essential to

consider how these radical ideas fit within the political and

historical context of Oakland and neighboring Berkeley. From the

Free Speech and Anti-War Movements, to the Feminist Movement,

and most importantly, the Black Panther Party, it is easy to see how

and why Oakland has remained a hub for radical activism, where

politically engaged people come to have a “by any means

necessary” attitude. The presence of Communist, Socialist, and

Anarchist communes has persisted throughout the decades, as has

extreme poverty and violence within Oakland’s low-income

neighborhoods. In more recent years, the magnitude of protest

that broke out in reaction to the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by BART

police officer Johannes Mehserle can be seen as a clear precursor to

the fight for justice in Oakland today. In response to a city

government that fails to protect its citizens, it is logical that activists

would work to build a self-sustaining community that does not rely

on those oppressive state institutions for governance. In response

to a New York Times article by Jonathon Mahler (2012) proclaiming

8

that Oakland is the last refuge of radicalism in the United States,

Davey D (2012) argues he “diminishes the true grind that organizers

put in day-in and day-out to improve their community and better

this city. Those who take direct action in the face of oppression do

so because they have little or no choice. It’s not something to be

romanticized, it’s not a game, even if this writer came across a few

individuals who thought it was.”

How people describe Occupy Oakland

Jesse: It (Occupy Oakland) still eludes a definition as the Occupy

movement as a whole does, because it’s more a gathering of

discontentment, and a social event. I think it’s just as much a

response to the apolitical elements of our culture that isolate us,

such as technology and uh…just the lifestyle of works weeks, and

this kind of thing. It’s a response to that as much as it is to any

political or economic issue. There’s a cultural issue, and Occupy

Oakland I would distinguish form the rest of the Occupy movements,

as I understand them, as being more about social services and

pragmatism, and less about ideology and theory.

TBG on important things to know about Occupy Oakland: To me it’d

be kind of important, especially with the migration of a lot of

different folks from a lot of places, overseas, from around the

country, Canada, whatever…a lot of people just automatically think

that there isn’t anybody from Oakland that’s within the Occupy

movement, and I’m like, “dude, I’m from Oakland.” I’ve seen Jerry

Brown try to tear down our city and drive a lot of good businesses

out. I understand how people be feeling, you know, cause they’re

here now and they’re like, “yeah, you know, I live here so this is my

community and such and such,” and this will always be my

community. So, I’m always gonna be here fighting and protesting

and having an issue when unlawful things are happening…a lot of

people can move and then join some other movement somewhere

else because they really didn’t really have any loyalty to Oakland in

the first place. They really just came as a visitor. I’m not saying that

as a bad thing, I’m just putting things in perspective. It just is what

it is sometimes. So it’s important for people to know there are

people out here who will remain out here, regardless of how many

times folks are arrested, or anything of that nature. So, we are out

here.

Myriam discussing OO’s biggest successes: Well, probably the first

port action when we had sooo many people, you know, and it was

so exhilarating and there was so much diversity and camaraderie

and little General Assemblies on the port. That was a high point. I

actually didn’t go on the second port action. I think it was partly I

was exhausted and I was just focused on this environmental stuff,

and partly I was affected by the publicity about how the unions

weren’t behind it, and stuff like that. You know I think at the time I

just thought it doesn’t make sense to do a repeat, it won’t be bigger

and better. But I actually think, ultimately, it was the right thing to

do, because bringing in the other ports to whatever extent we did,

provided the leverage that really scared them into…you know, when

we passed the resolution saying we were gonna come up to

Longview, we won! You know, so that was probably our biggest

victory, right?

Jesse on OPD and the relevance of Fuck the Police actions: Fuck the

police. Yeah…there’s not even a need for an intellectual stance on it.

9

When they murdered Alan Blueford, I heard there was a police

shoot-out, and that a cop had been shot, and the only thing I

believed, the only thing I knew… my epistemic standard was that a

man is dead and the police shot him. And that’s not even being

cynical, that’s not even saying, “fuck the police.” It’s just irrational

to believe anything they say. I wanted an independent source. And

then it turned out that I saved myself a lot of cognition because then

it turned out that, no, he didn’t shoot the cop, the cop actually shot

himself, and then they’re saying, “oh, he had a gun,” and I’m

thinking that the police plant guns. That’s...they get caught at that

all the time, and now they’re not even able to plant the gun on him.

Now they’re trying to say it was 40 feet away. And it’s not

even…see there’s a…and I respect the attitude that anyone who

shoots at a cop is a worthless piece of shit that is threatening society

at its utmost core, and should be killed. But that’s… that murdering

a cop is different than trying to murder another person because

they’re trying to murder the thin blue line that keeps us in

civilization. That’s what a lot of people feel and believe. I respect

that as a valid argument. It’s not mine, but it’s valid. Well, if that’s

the way people feel, then the police said that Alan Blueford was a

worthless piece of shit that should be murdered, should be killed.

That’s what they said by saying that he shot at a cop. So they’re

slandering a dead child. I mean...there’s nothing beneath them

when that’s what they do, and when they cannot be believed.

OCCUPY THE BAY

Actions and Strategies

The South Bay Occupation began in early October, spearheaded by

students from a community college:

Teresa: We met down at [the] Park. And there were actually quite a

few people that had met [up]. Some were activists previously, some

had been with other movements, and it really encompassed a lot of

ages. Some more active with Vietnam and, more local issues and—

California having such a broad, diverse population, it was really neat

to see such a diverse group come together. So we marched down to

City Hall. And I guess that’s when we took a vote about whether we

were going to choose to Occupy that day. And so it was passed that

we were gonna set up an Occupation that day. So, we [my partner

and I] left, and went home, not really knowing what was going to be

there. And we had joined what was called the Communications

group. Communications had set up the Gmail account for [the]

communications group, unknowing to us that…Other committees

10

did not set up a way to communicate with each other. And so the

next day, when I came downtown to lend my support, there were

tents set up that were actually moved back to the…street side where

the trees are…because I guess City Hall came and asked them to

move back. And so that’s where the tents stayed. And it was a lot of

people really, walking around, talking, discussing, bringing in maybe

some paperwork, newspaper articles or Internet articles. There was

food starting to show up from people passing by. We had a lot of

foot traffic. I mean, there was excitement in the air; people that

weren’t even there at the park the previous day, these were people

driving by on the streets, and walking by asking. Some people knew

and some people didn’t. So it was really, um, really a different

atmosphere, last year.

In this passage, Teresa describes the diversity of Occupy the Bay

(OTB); that it attracted everyone from seasoned activists and

college students, with a variety of interests, ranging from

international to local issues. The encampment was a key part of

OTB’s autumn identity, and the visible presence of an Occupation

was something very exciting to the public. Teresa also touches on

the reality that people really didn’t know what Occupying was; that

this was an experiment and people were learning as they worked.

Teresa immediately volunteered to be a member of the

Communications committee, and illustrates how communication

was a challenge for OTB from the outset. Throughout the seasons,

communication, transparency and use of social media technologies

have been constant and emotional issues for OTB, fueling much

internal conflict, fractionalization, and overall disillusionment with

OTB.

After the encampment was shut down in November, OTB, like many

other Occupies was faced with the task of changing the definition of

“Occupy” from the act of physically camping out to Occupying

public space in abbreviated and creative ways. The General

Assembly (GA) has remained the only consistent OTB event every

Wednesday and Sunday, aside from the monthly Really Really Free

Market. There are also consistent events and direct actions

organized by other individual Occupiers and affinity groups in the

South Bay, such as weekly bank actions. OTB’s numbers have

gradually decreased throughout the winter, spring and summer,

with GA attendance ranging from 5 to 25 people. This is not to

diminish the incredible efforts by individual Occupiers in the areas

of organizing and outreach; simply to highlight the necessity of

numbers to a social movement. While the GA has been consistent,

and OTB has expressed an interest in experimenting with

consensus-building, many individual Occupiers have demonstrated

a stronger commitment to direct democracy and “thought work”

than organizing and attending local direct actions. The result is

often a lot of discussion and not much follow-through. Thus, the GA

has become a space to make announcements about upcoming

actions and events going on in the greater Bay Area, report back

from events that people have attended (as well as the few

committees that still operate), brainstorm and propose future

actions, endorse specific events and proposed legislation, and

attempt to solve problems as they arise by establishing OTB

protocols.

However, OTB has had some notable successes that we wish to

highlight. First, the fact that OTB organized and operated a physical

encampment for nearly 2 months is incredibly impressive, and most

11

of the remaining consistent Occupiers one year later, like Teresa,

have occupied since OTB’s inception. Second, OTB has had success

in organizing with other smaller Occupies on the Peninsula, as well

as other like-minded non-profit and community organizations.

These coalitions have accomplished what OTB itself could not with

low numbers, particularly in the area of battling foreclosures and

campaigning for the Homeowners’ Bill of Rights in Sacramento. OTB

has also celebrated Earth Day and May Day through activism, with

individual Occupiers working with other activist groups to Occupy

Saltworks (a measurable success in Redwood City), Occupy Whole

Foods, and join the South Bay Immigrants’ Rights March. Finally,

OTB was successful in completing a ‘Values Workshop’ to develop

its vision for the future, developing clear yet open-ended values

that embody what OTB stands for and provide a framework for

moving forward. While numbers have dropped throughout the year,

we cannot underestimate the tenacity of Occupiers committed to

protesting injustice and educating the public.

Reform versus Revolution

As the South Bay lacks the history of oppression and radical activism

in Oakland, OTB as it has evolved throughout the seasons has taken

more of a progressive, reformist trajectory. The passages from the

following interviews are by no means representative of the

philosophy of OTB as a whole, but the opinions of a few very active

and committed individuals.

Jamie: These things have to grow, and it takes a couple years for a

tree to bear fruit. So these things, I mean, we’re now ironing out the

“whys.” ‘Cause we’re all here for a reason, but to communicate that

to other people, we all have to say the same thing, like in consensus.

“Why are we here?” Well, you know, it has taken months and

months to get the [values] and the mission statement and things

just for the local Occupy. What about Occupy: a Political Party! But,

the things is that I don’t necessarily think you would have to go that

far. If some of these people in our government could get that we’re

the majority. “We’re gonna keep doing this ‘til we have some sort of

say.” We’re leaderless, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work with

those people who are the leaders in our country. ‘Cause there is a

difference between having an organization that’s leaderless, and of

course, having a political sympathy for someone who is a leader. I

mean, my God!... And that’s what I’m saying is that most of these

people—they’re not necessarily our enemy. They are part of this

thing that’s been going on for a long time. And just because they

don’t participate or they talk against it, doesn’t mean that it’s not

still gonna happen...Well the thing about Occupy and the federal

level, is that those people have to be shaken up a bit… They need to

know that we can unseat them. And I don’t mean like a revolution or

anything. They just need to know that we have political power to get

rid of them.

Teresa: We do have choices. And the idea is that we take

government back into our own hands. We take our lives back into

12

our own hands. That, nothing really happens without people

standing up, without coming forward, standing up, learning the

truth. And just saying “No, this is bullshit. We are putting our foot

down.” And some people are saying that “this is going to lead to

revolution, we’re gonna go to war, that most countries are going to

go into civil war.” Um, okay. Most people think of war as taking up

arms. War can also be more broadly defined as a conflict of

objection. A more peaceful type of revolution. And that’s what

Occupy is advocating, is a nonviolent revolution. And just to say,

“No, we put our foot down.” And to just say “No.” And that’s kind of

another thing that kind of pisses me off that, Occupy, for whatever

action Occupy has done, Occupy has always been nonviolent, and

had the mantra of nonviolence, and this is the peaceful revolution.

And whatever violence that has erupted out of the idea and the

ideology of Occupy; violence never propagated by Occupy but either

the police or other infiltrators like Black Bloc that advocate violence

through means of a revolution. And I mean, we even have people

coming in to Occupy, not here in [the Bay], but other Occupy

demonstrations and inciting violence, and being called out for the

agitators that they are. I mean, you have some right-wing agitators

that are planted to start violence. And that’s not Occupy’s doing. So

I mean, really the ideology of Occupy is the peaceful revolution; you

put your foot down and say, “No.” And come out into the streets and

take some action. And I advocate that, I think that we’re going to

see more of it.

Steven: Well I think, kind of like talking about where we were in the

beginning, what I really wanna see happen is, I wanna see people [in

the South Bay and Peninsula] protest the way they do in San

Francisco and Oakland. ‘Cause, I wanna bring that culture down

here. ‘Cause a lot of the activism that happens on the [South Bay

and Peninsula] is about forming groups with committees and going

to city council meetings and filling out petitions and holding signs on

a street corner, and I think that’s all great, but I also wanna bring in

that other element of, Direct Action, Mic Checks and, I wouldn’t say

confrontational but more aggressive and direct. Not throwing bricks

through windows but just some things that are going to make

people take notice that are a little more disruptive, and that you

tend to see more in the bigger cities, not really in suburban areas.

‘Cause what I always said about the bank shutdowns was—Wells

Fargo knows that there are going to be bank protesters in San

Francisco, LA, New York, but what if they knew that they needed to

look out for that in Redwood City, San Carlos, Sunnyvale, you know,

all these other cities. You know, then they will be like, “Whoa,

what’s going on?” So, that’s one of the things that’s on my personal

agenda.

How People Describe Occupy the Bay

Steven: Well I think Occupy was about income inequality, but not

just income inequality. I think it’s just about inequality in general. It

was 1% versus 99%, corporations versus people, rich versus poor,

power versus powerless, and I think that’s what that was. To me, I

truly believe that the strength of Occupy is that a lot of different

groups with a lot of different issues can come together and work

together. For me, that was kind of what it was about, rather than

say, one specific principle. I mean if I had to pick out one I would say,

sure, income inequality or corporations versus people, those would

be the two that maybe I would pick out, but I kind of hesitate to say

“this is what I think Occupy Wall Street’s agenda was” because it is,

strength-wise, the collaborative nature of it. And kind of going back

13

to the beginning, you had a lot of first-timers; they hadn’t protested

before but they wanted to because of their personal situation, and

what they were saying was so horrendous, whether it was lack of

healthcare or an inability to get a job or student fees. So, I think it’s

a—I guess in very general terms it’s a protest against the current

system, and I think that’s where the relationship is.

Francisco: Okay, picture the top half of a daisy. And the petals are

different constituencies. And the yellow center is the overlap. So if

that’s the 99%, you’re trying to bring together people from very

different persuasions, very different priorities. Literally, if you are

not just kidding about being the 99%, that means you are going to

have right wingers because otherwise you’re not the 99%; you’re the

50%. And so people at the tips of the

petals is where they stand alone, where

they are at the extremes on some very

specific pet peeve they have, or cause,

and that’s their thing, but not the same

thing as the other petal. But, in the

middle, if you draw it as a bunch of

ellipses, you can see a bunch of ellipses, all the petals overlap, where

the yellow center is. And that’s the very very VERY few things that a

crowd that diverse can agree on…So I started—it wasn’t long before

I ran into people that said something that was outside of the

financial justice theme, and that ran contrary to my beliefs. But they

were separate from the financial justice theme that was supposedly

the focus then. And I figured, you don’t want to be arguing about

other things because that will disintegrate things pretty quickly in

the group. And I realized the best response was to say, “Partner, I

see that differently but that’s not even part of the focus, of what

brought us both here to Occupy; I’d rather talk with you about

things we agree on. Because there is so much we agree on; why

would we spend time arguing about things we disagree about? And

then we can fight together for that kind of justice.” And just

completely avoid the discussion. I refer to that as, for example,

“taking my Democrat, Obama shoes off when I enter the Occupy

living room.” And I’ve continued to follow that practice at other

groups I’ve joined like Move to Amend.

And not everyone has that sensitivity but, if you can explain it to

them in a positive light, it keeps the group from blowing itself up;

the 99%; because, it’s a volatile mix. Some people have laughed

when I’ve mentioned that sometimes I see it as a work of art, where,

you are trying to be a sculptor, but instead of clay, you are making

your sculpture out of C-4. A C-4 is a plastic explosive; it’s much more

powerful than say, dynamite. Basically, you put a clump of it, it looks

like clay, and set a fuse to it, and that’s what they use to demolish a

building; to wreck the foundation and cause it to collapse. So,

picture being a sculptor but instead of clay, that’s C-4 you’re trying

to make a work of art with; terribly delicate mission; powerful. So, I

had not thought these things through to that extent before coming. I

had never even been in a movement where I was trying to join

forces, with such a diverse group, which at least in theory would

include people whom normally I would not stand ideologically, just

for one very specific cause.

Steven: I would say that Occupy is not really a place or a group, but

it’s an opportunity for people to create change by themselves, and

not have to wait for a group to send an email saying “sign this on

my petition,” or be a part of this political party or exactly this group;

it’s just a place where—if you have a grievance, if there is something

14

you wanna create change on, you can come to us, you can find like-

minded people and you can get something done directly, as opposed

to going through the normal channels.

OCCUPY THE COAST

Actions and Strategies

The Coastal occupation began in Mid-October 2011 in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. As the movement has evolved over the last year Occupiers in OTC have participated in a wide variety of activities and also turned their attention to local issues on the Coast, focusing especially on homelessness and making change in the city’s policies around it.

Carl: I got very involved. And I immediately, of course, because of my background politically [as a Revolutionary Socialist] I realize these General Assemblies are very much like soviets or workers councils in some of these other countries where things had happened, like in the early Russian Revolution.

Marie: Everybody that I ran into was interesting. And interested. And everything that got spoken of was exactly how I felt. EXACTLY. There was no variance in it. There may have been variance in degrees but not in the factors they were talking about. And it was stuff I’ve been wondering for a long time.

Carrie: But I remember [an environmentalist] came to speak at the [building] which happens to be right across the street from where the Occupy encampment was, so that was kind of my big plunge into politics for 2011. I got involved in a follow- up to [his] talk and I went across the street to meet the Occupy people on the same day. I think that after visiting a couple times I wanted to interview someone and then after a while I started seeing that there was regular activities and decided to investigate.

This early encampment period is described as a time of great activity and enthusiasm for Occupy on the Coast. Occupiers who were present speak of having a few hundred community members present for marches and other activities, with a sense of solidarity among those from diverse backgrounds as described by Marie. The Coastal town in which this Occupy movement exists is considerably smaller than either Oakland or the Bay, meaning the encampment in front of the courthouse was a readily obvious fixture in downtown and received local media coverage in the early stages of the encampment. The initial period, lasted for a number of weeks before being shifted to a central Occupy kiosk staffed by Occupy members. While there were numerous issues with the city around the physical occupation, the harsh tactics taken at other Occupies were not carried out by the city against OTC. There were also divisions within OTC, including around the issue of homelessness and the involvement of Occupiers without homes.

Carl comments: Well, the County and the City have been relatively hands off. I think they were really afraid to have any ugly incident... Even the couple of times when they arrested some people there this past winter, where we had a bunch of drunks hanging out—we didn’t have enough of us to hang out at night anymore and all that. There were a few arrests and there were tickets and things but it never really got really, really, really weird and violent and all this other kind of stuff. Part of that is a small town again and they’re very conscious of their tourist image and things like that.

Carl: Now here of course things never got off the ground like they did other places. Initially it was a lot bigger and then we had those raids and it drove a lot of people away immediately. It doesn’t take much to drive people away in this town, though, because you’ll have a big showing initially for a movement like that and then it will peter out really quickly. People just don’t—it’s very hard to sustain progressive movement stuff here. It’s very difficult.

15

In the spring, the kiosk also came down, shifting OTC into another phase of action.

Marie (speaking about the early Occupy period): You know, we had some sweet things at the park. We had a couple of great food-fests that a lot of people showed up for. Some of the best when we had the kiosk…the kiosk being gone was really hard. And it hit us harder than I really believed it would. I thought there would be more people back by now but that kiosk was a real grounding point even though it got so controversial. I still look when I drive down [the street], I still automatically look over there, because every time I did I would look to see who was there, what was up. See if nobody was there and did I need to go hang or whatever. I pulled a shift until 2:30 in the morning one night. That was interesting.

Outside of the physical presence in the city, OTC has had a long-running weekly march through the local Farmer’s Market, a key community event that draws many people from the city, university, and surrounding areas. Later on the march was complemented by a weekly “Re-occupation” of the courthouse space, with signs and Occupiers present to hand out materials and talk to those who come by. Earlier on, marches were also held prior to GAs, often focusing on a particular weekly topic (such as a bank protest). Occupiers speak frequently of feeling like there is support within the community when they are out marching or engaged in other activities, despite the small number involved with OTC. The General Assemblies are still going on in OTC and offer a space for Occupiers to come together to discuss current events, brainstorm future actions, take care of weekly business, and build community.

Marie: I can feel that power— I’ve walked down [laughs] the middle of Farmer’s Market by myself with a sign. And one time a REALLY big sign because I was late or whatever and I wasn’t going to pull the sign down and I thought “You know, I’m going to march, I’m going to march. I’m going to march while I’m finding everybody else”

right? I felt no embarrassment, I felt no anything of that nature because there’s a bigger objective, you know?

Carrie: I am surprised at how many people give us a thumbs up and seem to know what the issues are or in general what we’re doing. Once in a while we’ll still run across people who say they’ve never heard of Occupy. So I feel like there’s this kind of sleeping masses or something. You know, what happened to all those two and three hundred people who were involved? They’re still here, and they probably have a lot of acquaintances and friends who are equally concerned. So that’s our chance to wake them up or at least wink at them a little bit. We also get some negative feedback once and a while. But that can turn into some interesting discussions.

Homelessness remains a key issue for OTC, a decision which Occupiers said was made consciously in 2012 to help focus their efforts within the community. Nonetheless, this has been an important issue for OTC since its beginning, due to the participation of numerous Occupiers without homes in the encampment and thereafter. Several from OTC have had fellow Occupiers who are homeless stay with them and developed close relationships with them that they mentioned might not have occurred without their participation in OTC.

Carrie: But we just decided okay, let’s pick a national issue—maybe one or two—and let’s pick a local issue. And then we’ll major in those. And we’ll of course take interest and mention other things but we’re going to major in those. So we chose homelessness and we chose the banks and the corporations…And I think that plus having participants that were homeless or borderline homeless kind of pushed us to, you know, “This really needs to be a local issue that we continue on.”

Other previous OTC events have included coordination with Food not Bombs to serve food on a weekly basis, as well as visiting the

16

local homeless day center to talk to those who are using the services. Occupiers were also involved in collecting signatures to get the GMO food-labeling initiative on the November ballot. OTC has held a variety of community events (as mentioned previously). Social events are also held periodically for community building among Occupiers, such as potlucks and parties. Another recurring action is speaking at the City Council meetings during the public comment period. Occupiers have often used this time to push for reforms in the City Council’s policies toward the homelessness and to critique steps backward on the part of the city.

Carl (discussing the impact of Occupiers at City Council meetings and recent attention to homelessness in local media): People were hearing what we were saying, you know. And I think they wanted to get ahead of it. I think the interest in the [local paper] and some of these other people who are now speaking up about these things is “Man, these guys are talking some sense and we’d better move on this and get ahead of the curve or we’ll have these damn radicals leading the charge.” You know what I mean. “So we’d better start putting forth some stuff. We’ll steal their thunder.” Which is fine with me. If you get them to the point where they’re doing that, you know you’ve got them on the run and you’re doing some good stuff.

Reform versus Revolution

Marie: And people care and that’s what keeps me going too—is that people care. They look for those signs [at farmer’s market]. They actually look for them. They know who we are. There is political talk that happens after we walk by because I’ve heard it. “Oh, yeah, Occupy” and then they’ll start another little vein of it. So it gets people thinking—the energy is strong.

Carrie: But you know, I think it just goes back to this is the response or the curative response—having compassion for the homeless. But eventually you do have to go up the river and go “Who’s throwing

babies in the river?” Which leads me back to the banks and corporations. Why is everything kind of screwed up in the first place? So it’s both charity and getting to the root of the problem.

Carl: So you gotta fight on all those fronts, in terms of making demands on the current system. On the other hand, you need to have a perspective in my opinion—and a lot of them do—where you’ve gotta aim toward actually creating a totally new society from the ground up that’s organized on a completely different basis and on a completely different set of principals, you know, a completely different set of rules, a completely different constitution, if you will. A completely different everything that is basically aimed at eliminating the power of the big corporations and the big banks and the super wealthy and the military brass and the CIA and all these other things. You’ve got to actually have a perspective of replacing that—abolishing that system and replacing it with a brand new system. While you’re making demands on the current system and you’re building your forces by making demands on the current system. Because that’s how you bring new people in. People who aren’t active now, all of sudden they’re without a home or they get unemployed or their unions been busted or something like that and they’re willing to listen to you about those issues. Tthey haven’t been political ever before and you can work with them and be active with them and help them fight. And in the process of doing that, not only can you help make gains for them maybe but you can also help to turn them on to your broader movement.

Carl: And [Occupy] could start to become more of a recognized alternative, representative form of democratic structure, separate and apart from the official system, the official governmental system, you see. Because that’s how revolutionary transformations happen, ultimately. There end up being counter poles of power that get organized because the old system cannot be relied upon anymore and it is no longer—it’s not tenable because it’s too corrupted. Alright? It happened during the American Revolution.

17

These perspectives from Marie, Carrie, and Carl help to show their different ways of understanding ideas of reform and revolution within OTC. Marie talks about raising awareness of Occupy locally, including by making the conscious decision to tell all those she comes into contact with in her daily life about the movement. Her comments reference the significant effect Occupy has had in shaping an alternative discourse by establishing a new narrative of increased political awareness. Carrie’s comment helps to link OTC’s efforts OTC to make concrete changes to the city’s policies around homelessness with the other broader structural changes needed for bringing about a more just, equal society.

As a self-identified Revolutionary Socialist, Carl is focused on revolution and creating an alternative form of government. Occupy provides a starting point for this revolution that would enable the working people to take control of the institutions and corporations forming the foundation of the economy, which would then be “democratically operated under a democratically arrived at planned and rational approach.”

Carl: In other words, the Occupy movement shows, in embryonic form, a kind of fledgling "new society" being born by example; a possible gathering place in the future for masses of people hit by the crumbling and reactionary current system. Along the way we need to relate to and involve ourselves in struggles over reasonable demands (reasonable to us and to the oppressed people, not necessarily "reasonable" to the 1% rulers. Matching what to them seems "reasonable" should not be our primary concern, although our demands should be within the "reasonable " radar of the majority of the 99%). In this way we link revolutionary projections and goals with current struggles and concerns of regular folks. This is the way to build movements and bring more people toward us -- and possibly radicalize them and help to raise their consciousness as they work with us, discuss issues with us, and get to know us.

How People Describe Occupy the Coast

Carrie: There’s kind of these loosely defined associations: “Oh, you seem to be fairly good at running meetings, and why don’t you be the treasury for a while, how about you take notes and okay maybe not this week.” [laughs] It’s a lot more intuitive with Occupy—unpredictable. And yet I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for exploring a leaderless movement. I’ve never really thought about that that much and never tried it outside of just friendship groups and it’s been really interesting.

Carrie: First of all, the GAs are outside and therefore very welcoming to anyone who’s walking by or vaguely interested. And [the other group she participates in]…great, wonderful organization—just tends to attract a lot of white intellectuals who do things very thoughtfully, carefully. And that’s been fun and interesting too. And you know, Occupy, it just feels very different. It feels a lot more Bohemian…it feels a little bit more unpredictable but also really kind of relentlessly willing to address the issues—just local issues, address national and a lot more talk about kind of the dark side of politics. There is that in [the other group] but maybe a lot more personalities of the [Occupy] participants showing and a lot more discussion about the dark side of national politics and international.

Marie: There have been so many amazing people who are in it. And that’s been a joy. As many things that have been a disappointment and a heartbreak, they’ve been equaled out by meeting some amazing people who are so gifted in so many ways. And then learning my limits [laughs]. And a lot of us have gone through a lot of personal things through it.

Marie on focusing on homelessness: For me, and I’m assuming for a few other people, that it grew. Because the more you’re in it the worse you know it is. And the more you know about it the worse you know it is. You know, walking away becomes something that you

18

can’t do for your own moral fortitude anymore. And you know, when I asked [the couple]—when I said they could stay here, basically until they got a place it’s because I couldn’t take it.. I personally see very little point of marching and talking and discussing and having a raffle benefit, whatever you want to call it, if there isn’t going to be some kind of physical, hands-on action.

Carl: …We went through several periods of different people coming in, people leaving, controversies about this, controversies about that. We’ve held together actually pretty well, given the small town… We’re down to kind of a hard core.

Carl: It makes a big difference when you’ve got something that you can care about, that you’re dedicated to, that you can be involved in. It makes all the difference in the world. Whatever else you’re going through health-wise and everything else, it makes a hell of a difference. And I’m really glad it came along just for that reason alone, let alone the movement value of it and the social change value of it.

WHO ARE THE OCCUPIERS?

How did you become involved in Occupy?

Jesse: I heard it was going on down the street, and then one day I

was high on benzodiazepines from being at the dentist, and I didn’t

want to just go straight home, I wanted to enjoy it, so I walked

toward the plaza, and uh, found a really great scene. It was like a

barbeque, a fish fry…people were out and I found some people

making origami, and hung out with them, and enjoyed it through

the evening, and returned the next day because it was simply a

great gathering of people. It wasn’t so political. It was more

community based. There wasn’t a bunch of rhetoric, which I have a

disdain for. Um, didn’t see a lot of 99%... people weren’t even

talking about that, they were just managing food and playing music.

There were a lot of artists coming out. Uh, church groups. Everyone

showing up to do their community thing. And it was a very…that

spirit only existed during the first encampment. There was no jaded

mentality, there was no anger, there was not people screaming

about the bourgeois or the 1%. It was yeah, it was a very good

community event.

TBG: Well, I had sort of been following the developments in New

York when that all had happened. And I, of course, had been

reading up on the stuff going on overseas in Africa and Europe. So,

when I heard what was going on in New York, I thought it was

rather interesting to say the least. And then when it really started

spreading and folks actually really started getting together and

starting their own Occupies, you know…I was very interested. I

mean, I didn’t necessarily know what was going on and when

Occupy Oakland very first started, I was not around. I was peeking

in and I’d peek out, and…I guess, I could say taking a judgmental

analysis of the people around. But, so after that, I sort of just was

checking out the scene. I mean, I’d pass by downtown all the time

for different reasons, so that’s pretty much how I started...getting a

little in, and a little in. And then I went to a few actions here and

there, not really participating too much. But, I’ve been sort of just

picking at it until I got full blown. I was just like, “well, why not?”

Marie: A friend told me…I was already friends with them and she

came over or called me one day and said “Hey, there’s going to be

this meeting. It’s Occupy solidarity with Wall Street and Occupy the

Coast and there’s so and so…it’s been going on." It was just a few

weeks in because it was [late October]. So it was brand new. And I

19

felt this literal compulsion from the center of me—there was no

option. It wasn’t an option not to go. There was no option as far as

going went. It was really a heart thing—a gut, heart thing…So yeah,

I went and listened and realized how long it had been since I had

done it—you know, done anything, actually ever. I vote. I’ve always

voted. And bitching [laughs]...I’ve always had of course opinions like

everybody does and was active politically that way but not in this

form… And I was watching. I wanted to see who showed up—I was

curious. I mean, that wouldn’t have affected my staying or not

staying one way or the other. Obviously I’m still here…And we’ve

had some pretty, you know…number three, only three people

showing up days. So yeah, I started going. I went down to where the

tents were. I went with [the friend], I went alone. Like I said, it just

became “I have to go. I have to go. I have to go.” Most people that I

talked to, there was this surge of kinship.

Carl: So, when the Occupy movement hit, it was a real lifesaver for

me on a personal level because here was something that was real

vibrant. When I first saw the newspaper account of it in the paper

here, the first couple of times, I figured “Oh, well, it’s not going to be

like Occupy Wall Street.” I mean, it’s going to be a flash in the pan,

there’ll be a couple of things that people get together a couple of

times and it’ll pretty much die. But I kept hearing about it and

hearing about it and hearing about it. And they kept having these

marches. So I figured, “Well, shit, I’d better go down there and

figure out what the hell’s going on.” So I did. And I was immediately

drawn into it, got very deeply involved, got involved in the

controversy with the people who had raided us a couple times, who

didn’t want to submit to the majority, you know. People who had,

you know…But they raided us, they stole stuff, they did all kinds of

crap. Well anyway, so I got very involved.

Danny: I guess September 17th my girlfriend and I were up in Harbin

Hot Springs, Northern Calistoga kind of a little hippy place which is

really nice and on Sunday driving back, listening to KQED I guess, we

heard news reports of the Occupy stuff that had started, well, the

Saturday while we were up there. Um, I got really excited. We both

got really excited, like, this this THIS is what is needed, you know,

this is the way to galvanize people, and that’s what’s needed, you

know? You gotta wake people up somehow. So, yeah, I got

enthusiastic and then maybe next weekend, maybe two weeks later

we got a big Saturday march up in Occupy San Francisco. I was

really gimping then because I’ve had some tough hip surgeries,

keeping up with the crowd was hard. But I really wanted to get my

girlfriend to this because she’s younger and all of her political action

has been online. So this was her first time going to an actual march

or demonstration, and she got SO enthusiastic. She took off, it was

like 6 hours before I could meet up with her again because I couldn’t

keep up, you know, I’m gimping along at the back with the people

with the wheelchairs, pissed off at her and in a lot of physical pain,

but she had such a good time and got so excited. There is no joy like

turning someone on to something that’s new to them. So, that’s

how I got involved. We started carrying signs and chanting. And, it

wasn’t new to me because of peace movement and the anti-Bush

stuff. But, the encampment was there, we hung out; we started

showing up to some work group meetings, um, but it’s a long way

away. I didn’t get too involved with Occupy San Francisco.

Francisco: Um, I saw them there. It looked chaotic, a little scary, a

little scruffy. I had heard about it and seen video…And I approached,

20

timidly, wondering what I was doing in the middle of this place, with

all sorts of people; some of them weren’t my usual crowd. And, it

seemed interesting. And I saw that ethnically it was not diverse. And

I have an interest in ethnic diversity; I have done Latino Outreach for

other movements, to get Latinos involved, specifically for Obama for

America. I travelled to other states and I formulated strategies and

wrote materials to attract Latinos and there were none so I figured,

“hmmmm, I’ll just ask around and see what’s going on.” And, a

funny thing, I met the women who were at the table there, and they

offered some snacks; so it was quite messy; trashcans overflowing. I

offered to haul away the trash in my trunk, to make life easier for

them. And then later in the week I attended some lunch where they

came with these big aluminum trays of food for the people

attending, some organization. And practically half of the food was

left. It was great. And I thought, hmmm, I know exactly who could

enjoy this. And so I asked if they were about to throw it away after

the meeting. So I took the other half of the food over there and they

enjoyed it a lot.

Why Do You Occupy?

“Well, I mean, my entire life—and I mean from the time

that I was born—there were some things that have happened to me

where basically me or my family was taken advantage of and it had

an ill effect on me” (Jamie). Jamie is homeless, and his decision to

Occupy is intrinsically connected to his homelessness. This is not to

say that every homeless person is automatically an Occupier, but for

Jamie, the circumstances that led to his homelessness are primarily

structural and systemic, and he recognizes that his struggles are

interconnected with the struggles of every person facing

foreclosure:

I am involved with Occupy because, I don’t feel like I was ever given

a chance… I see where there is a lot of violence that has been

directed at me… And see, it’s the same people, okay! I mean, they

are not directly connected to me. I couldn’t point to you and say,

“that Doctor Meddlebrook, he works at Goldman Sachs!” But

Goldman Sachs and these companies that do the pharmaceutical

drugs are so anti-marijuana. And then they’re connected with Bank

of America who’s putting Jill over here at 65 out of her home. And

this is why I’m so involved with Occupy, is because we’ve all been

taken advantage by all of these people all of our lives, and maybe--

it’s blatantly apparent to me, it should be blatantly apparent to

other people. My situation is remarkably similar to other homeless

people. And now lots of people who are being evicted from their

houses are being taken advantage of by the high rent prices, and I

definitely think that that’s taking advantage of somebody because—

a smart person would only pay a quarter of their income to rent.

Where most people are paying like, 95(%) or you know, somewhere

around 80(%)…

Jamie recently said at one General Assembly: “I need to fight for

your homes so that I can get one.” Jamie’s story follows a different

trajectory from Francisco’s who grew up in Argentina and was in

high school when the dirty war was starting, in the 1970s. Thus, he

experienced state terrorism first-hand, and can compare it to living

in the United States: “one of things I tell people is; I lived the closest

thing to Fahrenheit 451 of anyone I know, because if they found

books they didn’t like on your bookshelf, they would haul you in”

(Francisco). Francisco’s family moved to Spain right before Franco

died:

21

…so I got to live 5 years watching a society emerge from a 40 year

dictatorship, into freedom; I have never seen—there are few times

where you will see a society evolve that quickly, that you are living

in. So, it was amazing. So in that case the dictator was dead and

part of the plan was that there would be a democracy…But yeah, I

came to UC San Diego and even though I was studying Physics and

Math I was also writing the Foreign Affairs column for the student

union newspaper. So, it’s not like I suddenly developed an interest in

politics. It had been there, but I was busy raising—being a single

parent and working in high-tech. So, I think for about 20 years I

turned that part of myself off and just was a breadwinner and a dad.

And then Bush, and the Crash, and here I am, and on the corner is

Occupy. And my thought process is, I’m frustrated with inefficiencies

where I am contributing right now, and there I was, and I joined. So,

yeah, a lot of thinking went in there.

So, for Francisco, becoming an Occupier “was a combination of a

primal scream, but also this is a very deliberate demand that I must

find an efficient mission, an effective mission. Not any mission. This

is not about my emotions; this is about changing something. I am 50

years old; I don’t have time to go around screaming. I don’t want to

spend my time if it’s not gonna change reality.”

TBG was born and raised in Oakland, and his decision to Occupy is

related to the history of the city:

TBG: I always say, me being somebody born and raised here, I’ve

really been watching it transform over the past two to three

decades. Like…It’s not transforming for the better, for the most

part…you know, be it the gentrification of areas…I don’t know, it

seems like alienation, so to speak, be it social groups, or be it

ethnicities or…I don’t know, I just wish it was more…everybody just

be all for the people, but everybody don’t want to be all for the

people. I guess those are the things to me that really matter. You

know, like, outreach…you know, education is very important

regardless of where you’re at or what you’re doing. Education, to

me, has to be in the forefront, you know. And…for the most part, to

me, just the things that are humane.

For Jesse, Occupying is not about any particular political ideology,

but about building community among people who have forgotten

how to communicate with each other properly.

Jesse: And that…that’s why [we’re] Occupying…that’s how we’re Occupying, is we have this, and it speaks to what we’re doing correct for the first time. That was something that I…that I noticed when I first got to the encampment that really flashed on me…was I missed the iphone era. Just when the iphone came out, I missed about three years of American society, and when I came back, everyone had a screen on, and nobody was making eye contract on the Bart anymore…and it was Rip Van Winkle for me, it was very strange, and, there was less conversation. And, when Occupy occurred, that seemed to be a large part of it…was people just saying hello to each other for the first time in a long time. And …regaining some of that…something that…I’ve always wondered if I admired my grandparents generation because of something that they had, or if it was just because they were older and wiser. I think they had something that we lost through television. And through…you know, basically being raised by television. It’s a huge component of many people’s personalities. People…in many conversations people are trying to sell each other something…sell them themselves, or win an argument, or do what they see on TV. And, facebook? Iphones? It got even worse, and it’s topped. I think

22

we hit our critical…our max criticality, and it collapsed, and we started remembering how good it is to say, “hello,” to each other.

For Carl, his decision to Occupy ties into his lifelong commitment to activism: “The Occupy movement came along—it was a real God-send because…of course, I’ve been an activist all my life. I mean, basically decided I was a Socialist when I was 15 years old in high school.” He goes on to explain his views on how and why people choose to participate in social movements:

Carl: Sophisticated levels of political-historical-social consciousness do not and cannot arise in a vacuum. Very few people are natural revolutionaries, who could probably not have ever successfully been anything else (like myself). Most people who become revolutionaries do so only after an intense process of activism, struggle, personal turmoil, and deep involvements -- plus reading, discussions all night, debates, and almost visionary epiphanies. Issue movements, and movements like the Occupy movement which represent combinations and syntheses of overlapping and intertwined issue fights, are the crucibles in and around which these processes take place and in which most revolutionaries are forged.

Why Can’t Everyone Just Get Along?

Francisco: We live in the Bay Area. So, the theoretical definition

would be that, yeah, Tea Partiers, Libertarians, the extreme right, all

of those petals of the daisy from left to right, all the way. But, in

practice, we haven’t seen that. And in practice, the entire Occupy

movement has really been a left-wing movement, while attracting

quite a few Libertarians. And I’ve seen quite a few anarchists, who

feel strongly about, “government’s evil, we should not discuss things

with them. They should not exist.” I don’t feel that way; I don’t like

using the word, “government.” I prefer the word, “administration.”

‘Cause to me, a government is—I was governed by generals with

tanks and rifles, and all sorts of heavy weapons, and they—we were

governed. We were ruled over, like a medieval kind. And I think in

the U.S. people talk about government and it stirs up the rebellious

teenager; “no, you are not going to straighten anything in my room,

don’t even touch anything in there!” And it doesn’t serve society

well. We shouldn’t be putting people in a place to be administering

our assets, our resources. But that’s a separate thing. So, the

anarchists…And also activists for other causes. Mostly Progressive,

Green and that whole lot. Indigenous Rights, that was a very big, a

very vigorous group within Occupy.

And I saw the danger of mission creep—not “creep” as in creepy, but

feature creep is a term that exists in software engineering. When

you are writing software, your product manager says, “Build this

thing with these features.” And while you are busy doing that,

within the release date, he or somebody else has the bright idea to

go, “Oh, could you also make it do this?” And features are creeping

in. And the thing gets more complicated; you get more bugs; and

then suddenly, ooo you’re in trouble; the thing is way too big, way

23

too slow, and there’s no way you can get it to the market when you

plan to, but nobody ever was quite honest about what was the

scope of what you wanted to do. And it just creeps in, it creeps up on

you. And gradually, you started out with something very crisp, very

clean, and you end up with Frankenstein. You started with a Ginsu

knife, that was one knife, nice and sharp, and now it’s a Swiss army

knife; it’s got corkscrews and screwdrivers and bottle openers as

well. And that’s a problem and it doesn’t do what the original design

was supposed to do very well. I saw that happening at Occupy,

because not everyone had an appreciation for focus. And to me,

that’s what attracted me here. We are not democrats, we are not

republicans. We are upset about financial justice, Wall Street Boom,

one thing--Occupy Wall Street. And it’s such a central problem in our

society. If we can fix this—so to me it’s like, I can come here, this is

the biggest problem of our time right now, in this decade. If we can

fix this we can probably also create momentum to deal with other

really important things.

Myriam: Mao had this great concept. The difference between

contradictions among the people and contradictions with the

enemy, right? And Occupy Oakland hasn’t gotten that clear, you

know? And most left organizations haven’t in that we often treat

contradictions among the people as if they’re contradictions with

the enemy. But, I think Occupy Oakland also frequently makes the

ultra-left mistake of considering contradictions among the people as

being contradictions with the enemy. And, not to say someone like

Jean Quan doesn’t represent the interests of the 1%; I think she

does, she has to or she wouldn’t be there…but “one divides into

two,” another great expression of Chairman Mao…and that if you

only see people as bad and opposed to you, they’re going to be

opposed to you and do things you don’t like, but if you look for the

ways that you can unite with them, you know, then sometimes you

can get further…

Marie: And a lot of people were excited [about Occupy in the

beginning]. Then we have this society that is everything [snapping

her fingers] you know, right now, right now. Have to have answers,

have to have whatever, have to have food, whatever it is, right now.

There’s no learned patience anymore so a lot of people fell away. I

just almost lost it but I wasn’t going to walk when we had the

meeting deciding how we were going to communicate. I don’t know

if you heard about that…It was just amazing [laughing]. It was just

incredible. I just thought, “Oh my God.” It was deciding between this

[waving fingers] and this [giving thumbs up] and this [giving thumbs

down]. I think this [waving fingers] got 45 minutes of discussion. I

will never forget standing there. And I looked at a friend of mine—a

massage therapist, a lot of these people come from [a neighboring

town]—and all of this time and everybody’s trying to be respectful

and all of that. And they said “Well how about this and this?” And I

said “How about this?” [raises middle finger]…I mean, it was

beyond—and it was [another Occupier] who’s wonderful and very

bright and his whole heart was in it. But he acquiesced a little too

much to people who wanted to talk one more time about either

doing this [waves fingers] or doing this [shows thumbs up]…And I

was very confused by that. That confused me. I thought “Who

cares? Just pick something. Let’s go!” You know? I’m watching

people walk away by two and three at this point. And people that I

had seen at other meetings and I that I knew weren’t going to come

back. [Throws up hands]…I knew it. And the living democracy thing

is—it requires a lot of patience. It requires input.

24

Steven: Well I think, that is a tough one but I think it just comes

down to the idea that we all have to focus on Conflict Resolution,

and I hate to say it but there is a lot of, at least a lot of the original—

I don’t know if this is the right characterization for it, but a lot of the

original conflict in OTB was that people were getting kicked out of

the encampment for being threatening or for actively pursuing their

addictions in the encampment and stuff like that. And so a lot of the

conflict has come from “well, we should be inclusive for everyone

anyway, so why don’t you let those people in?” But for me, I think

Occupy’s not going to be successful unless you draw those lines

because—it is going to piss people off but at the same time it’s, it is

the same logistic thing. If you are dealing with people who are

addicted in your own Occupation, you don’t have time to focus on

you know, “what events should we do?” You are worrying about

like, “is this guy like, shooting up or smoking while we are at city

hall?” Or “do I have to worry about this person becoming angry or

violent or disruptive at a GA?” You can’t function. And it sucks

because then people think like, “Oh, clearly you don’t believe in

inclusiveness if you will not allow for these things.” But at the same

time, they don’t help and they don’t—they totally stymie…. And this

is the only thing that I think Occupy should take from other

traditional activist groups, is that other groups, when they have

those problems, those people are cut out… Not necessarily just that

because, people can have addictions but just-- don’t bring it to a GA,

don’t bring it to a physical encampment. Those people, I think,

should have a voice, but if they become a disruptive presence then

you kind of have to say, “Okay, sorry but you can’t be a part of this

process.” Maybe, if they are fine on the Google Group say, “Okay,

you can stay on the Google Group but, you can’t do this.” Or, “come

to an event, but you can’t do this.” For me I feel like those lines have

to be drawn; but again, it has to be approached from that mentally

of “how do we deescalate.” Again, the goal should be conflict

resolution, not conflict avoidance (laughs), ‘cause that never works. I

think-- I dunno--because that has been a problem at every

Occupation, from what I’ve heard, “how do we deal with people who

are disruptive, or causing problems within GA, or focused more on

their own agenda?”

Inclusivity and Fractionalization

Myriam: I think these days it’s not very inclusive [Occupy Oakland]. I

think that the GA’s have dwindled to a small group of people who

know each other and if you arrive and you’ve never been to a GA

before no one’s gonna come up and say, “Hi, welcome,” you know,

“join us.” I don’t think people really necessarily even know how to

join a committee. I mean I--to me, the website looks good, you

know? And I don’t know whether other people are going to the

website and then emailing a committee and saying, “I’d like to join

you and get involved.” But certainly the GA is no longer an entry

point.

In Myriam’s opinion, people in Occupy Oakland have forgotten

about the importance of Outreach and being inclusive, because

people have developed close relationships over the past year. Also,

since the GA has dwindled throughout the spring and summer, it is

difficult for newcomer’s to find an entry point. Danny, however,

believes that people need to communicate their needs, rather than

wait for people to ask.

Danny: The first meeting I came to with Occupy the Bay was for

people with disabilities as an educational thing…for disabilities and

25

Occupy and how can they work together. So, I was in fairly bad

shape in my hips at that time; that was in November; sort of on my

last legs. I got forced--I never wanted to have a hip replacement on

the other side of my body, because it had gone so badly on this side,

and having to do it--they had to take all the metal out again-- but I

had to go. I went back for that last surgery December 15th. But I had

great difficulty walking—so I was very drawn to that, interested in

disabilities at Occupy. But ultimately how I see diversity is about

creating a space—not bending over backwards—but creating a

space that is friendly for everyone. And for me I—I’ve been carrying

a disability chip on my shoulder for a long time, but denying it

because, I’ll tell you, and that’s a very common practice for people

who have an insidious disability that is getting worse over many

years, is to live in denial. And I did, and that’s good in a way because

I made a lot more money by denying it and medicating heavily and

so on to be able to continue a career. And the cool thing is, that

means I have a lot of savings put away (laughs). So, but disability,

well, diversity, I see it’s ultimately the job of each of us who feels

different, whether we identify with a given group or not—it is

ultimately our responsibility to include ourselves, and to ask for

what we need, even maybe demand what we need, in

accommodations. And so, if I need to move around a lot and that

makes people uncomfortable, I need to talk about it; that I do, I have

to squirm around a lot. I have to lean against things and get

essentially acupressure, because the pain distracts me so much from

interacting with people, and I wanna interact; I wanna get stuff

done, I wanna listen to them. But the pain keeps pulling my

attention away. So, it’s up to me though, to communicate my needs.

It is up to me to make it happen. Or, I could give up. Or I could say,

“Hey, they are doing this to me—they won’t allow me in their

group” but if I take that view then I’m opting out. And it may be very

true that someone’s not including me in their group, that may be

reality, but I’d like to see it more as, “I would like to include myself.”

It gets me more included; things happen. So, even if I go to a group

where it’s all dance, I can go, I can include myself, even dances

where I don’t know anybody, because that is my strong intention.

That’s all, so, of course I feel envious of all the people doing

cartwheels and things…and I can go there, and I can cry, I can have

tears, because I can’t do that probably will never be able to do that

again, and 20 years ago I could, but still, it’s my choice. I can include

myself, and have the feelings, or not and have other feelings.

Danny makes a valid point, but Occupies have also experienced

prejudice and acts of discrimination against a variety of groups,

which can lead to fractionalization or internal critique regarding the

reproduction of oppressive structures within the movement, in the

case of Decolonize Oakland and Occupy the Hood. OTB and OTC

have also had very heated debates about the issue of homelessness:

Marie: Because then there started being big battles about the dirty

hippies…with the city and then it became within Occupy. There was

a meeting that was held that wasn’t exactly—I don’t know what it

was—it was a “let’s try to get this shit figured out” meeting. I

walked away. I lost it in the meeting; in my estimation. A couple said

“You didn’t lose it [Marie], you just said…” There turned out to be

some classism within the ranks. And to be honest with you, I didn’t

even know what classism was... So this was news to me and there

was this beautifully written—there are some amazing writers in

Occupy, in my estimation. Amazing, amazing writers…Somebody

was reading this beautifully written thing about what we wanted to

present and presenting who we were and presenting ourselves and

26

all of that. And then all of a sudden it goes on about the “shiftless

underclass”…I turned the color of that dress over there [pointing to a

red dress hanging up]…It just absolutely—it infuriated me…And I

asked people there that it didn’t seem to infuriate. Some of them

didn’t react like me and they were infuriated. They were already

infuriated. It was very interesting for me to find out how deeply I

really believed what I said I believed. You know, deeply enough to

embarrass myself. It’s always fun, you know [laughing]…And calling

them out on it. And being told…I don’t even know what I was told

quite frankly because there really wasn’t anything to tell. And I

asked people there who seemed to be in agreement with calling the

people who were down there “shiftless underclass.” I said “I’m hard

pressed that there isn’t at least a couple here who weren’t called

‘dirty hippies’ in their day too.

Steven: Well, you know this brings up an interesting point. I’ve been

talking with our Planning group and with people in OTB…and how

like, because there’s been this debate about tactics and stuff, and

how maybe the solution is to create a whole other group that’s not

Occupy, and not necessarily one that—because one of the debates

that’s kind of stymied a lot of local groups is “you should be inclusive

of all people, even if they are disruptive,” so we have been thinking

of starting a group that’s just focused on Direct Action. Like the stuff

maybe [on the Peninsula] that we would not get consensus for, like

Occupying a councilperson’s house, or the Whole Foods Action that

OTB endorsed but we didn’t. Maybe creating a group where, it’s

only focused on Direct Action, and it’s not necessarily—we wanna

include the principles of Occupy but we wanna say at the beginning,

this is not a group where you can come in and be disruptive. We’re

inclusive to sexual orientation, race, gender, minorities; these are

our principles. We are fighting against—make it very specific—

banks, these are the groups we are protesting against. As opposed

to Occupy where it’s kind of freeform, have it more laid out upfront,

and that way it can be a group that-- it’s not city specific so anyone

on the Peninsula can come and be a part of it. So, I think that might

be a part of the future as well. I mean I hate to see things split off

but… I think it is kind of already happening kind of organically

anyway. People are working to do their own actions and their own

events and so I think, maybe that’s what I see for the future. Other

groups coming out of this and other avenues of action..

NETWORKING

As in most movements that seek to create a space for social change,

networking has been central to the movement. Activists have built

lucrative new relationships with outside institutions and have also

seen failed collaborations. Regardless, Occupy needs people and

allies to survive, and fostering relationships is an important part of

that process. As Occupiers looks to the future, it’s helpful to review

how collaborations and outreach have been approached thus far.

Government

Among Occupiers, there is a vast continuum between reform and

revolution: some simply want a more accountable government that

will better serve the people, while others believe the government

relies on systematic oppression to maintain capitalism and this will

never serve the people. At each Occupation a diversity of goals and

values are present and there can be no assumption that the

movement definitively represents a fight for change within the

system or a complete overhaul. Many attempts have been made to

27

demand change from the government, and to provide change for

each other outside of its reach. Clearly Occupiers agree that the

government is not functioning in a legitimate manner, and

therefore, some argue that we do not have to accept their claims of

legitimacy. In addition to public pleas for governmental and

regulative change, one of the most common strategies has been to

“think globally, act locally.” Taking on local issues and ordinances in

public protest, attending and disrupting City Council meetings, and

mobilizing masses of citizens to call City Officials have led to positive

outcomes in many areas for activists who are willing to work with

their cities to negotiate change. In other areas, Occupiers are

partaking in symbolic actions that directly reveal the failure of the

government to provide basic services by providing those very

services to the community for free (in the vein of Food Not Bombs).

Jesse: What I’m seeing is people obsolete-ing the system, such as

the people who clean up, Occupy the Brooms, they clean the town.

They’re rendering Public Works obsolete. The Local Business

Liaisons, they save businesses. One particular one has been here for

over a hundred years, and was going to be taken out. Chamber of

Commerce didn’t do anything, neither did City Hall. Local Business

Liaison has saved them, protected an institution down

here…obsolete-ing Chamber of Commerce. We need to obsolete the

Police. I would like to see it privatized. That’s my radical ideological

solution to it, but maybe something more like the Black Panthers or

the Guardian Angels, some kind of grassroots thing, feeding people,

these kinds of things. I believe that’s where it goes…this is a

conservative idea that people get the government they deserve. It’s

also an anarchist idea, that when we become angels of the Earth,

like Madison, if all men were angels, there’d be no need for

government. Well, as we become angels, the government will

become less relevant, and that’s the trend that I am seeing, that I’ve

always looked for, and this is the first time I’ve actually seen

potential for it, other than in history.

Carrie: And I definitely think that people are probably getting used

to our presence at City Council meetings for good or ill. But I noticed

that things seemed to go well last [time] and um, Carl said

something funny and people in the audience kind of liked what he

said. That was neat to see. It doesn’t always go that way.

Teresa: We need government, you know; we just need government

that’s not fucking corrupt. I don’t have a problem with government;

I just have a problem with corruption.

Francisco: One of the things that happened is, once I got involved,

starting to talk to people, I guess people respected my approach and

how I expressed things, and they nominated Professor Alberto and

me as the people to go with our lawyers, with our legal team and

negotiate with the city; with the mayor’s office. But that really

meant the city manager. So, Alberto and I were the ones doing that,

and Jan, as our lawyer typically was there. And we were trying to

negotiate for the right to have a camp. It was a tough negotiation.

There were people on the city council that did not like it. But then,

the Scott Olsen episode happened in Oakland; the vet that got

injured by a rubber bullet or a gas canister or something. I think so.

So he’s a vet, and now his life is in danger for a few days. Huge

scandal, and it looked at the Time like Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland

was going to be forced to resign over this. And there we were,

Alberto, Jan, Tim and I, on the 18th floor of City Hall, with [the city

28

manager] and her legal advisor. And all you had to do was look in

their faces. And you could see that they desperately wanted to avoid

anything like that happening for purely selfish reasons, for their

career. They wanted to preserve themselves as political animals.

And they were ready to deal. They wanted a face-saving way out of

this mess and were willing to make some concessions that would

keep us more or less in a box. Not cause too much trouble. They

sensed that we were a much more peaceful crowd than Oakland. So,

we pretty much had it in the bag.

Churches

Since the beginning of the movement, many Occupies have

explored the possibilities of working with churches. In some areas

churches have been strong allies and in other cases churches have

been very careful to distance themselves publically from the

movement, or from certain actions or tactics. As a resource,

churches often offer affordable (or free) safe spaces for activists to

meet and organize, and kitchens for large-scale food preparation.

Churches and church officials may choose to endorse actions to

their constituencies and in public. Occupy has looked to churches

for assistance in outreach and in support for projects that may be of

mutual interest, for example, in feeding the homeless or promoting

educational opportunities. Occupiers have also spoken to their own

congregations for help.

Myriam: There was this thing called Occupy the Dream, this brief

flare up of an attempt by the Black Churches to unite with us, and I

went to the demonstration that we had in San Francisco for that and

talked to this minister from that who’s at FAME, the First African

Methodist Episcopal Church, just down the street.

Francisco: A community that we have not—for example, we have

been talking forever about reaching into the black community, and

going to churches and stuff. And it has been all talk and no one has

done it. We haven’t done even enough into the Latino community.

Carrie: One thing that probably makes me a little different than the

other Occupy folks is that I’m part of a religious community. I have a

motivation that way that’s towards compassion, and attentiveness

and truth telling and fair leadership. So I think I’m motivated that

way too. But then there’s also the social/political awareness that is

on top of that. It was really a welcome time for me to “Wow,

community—this seems like a really grass-roots movement.” I don’t

know if I really saw myself getting more than knee deep but it’s just

kind of a little habit forming, I guess...It’s really satisfying in a way

that I kind of have one foot in each. And my great hope would be

that some other people from my church would show interest—

although they have been verbally supportive. They’re all for it…so

that’s been cool.

Nonprofits/NGOs

Collaborations with non-profits organizations have also been fruitful

for some Occupiers and have been avoided by others. In the

struggle for foreclosure defense, many Occupies in the San

Francisco Bay Area have sought to form coalitions with

organizations such as ACCE, the Alliance of Californians for

Community Empowerment, to ensure that all legal strategies are

29

taken to prevent people from being evicted from their homes by the

banks. In the fight against corporate personhood, many individual

Occupiers have joined Move to Amend as a way to expand their

political reach. On the other hand, hesitance and wariness have

also been expressed at the prospect of working with non-profits.

Concerns range from co-optation of the movement, to the abuse of

collaborative opportunities for furthering liberal non-profit agendas.

The non-profit industrial complex paradigm leaves activists

questioning the degree to which non-profit organizations can truly

be effective in the same fight that Occupy aims to stand for. The

debate over collaboration with non-profits can be best understood

in relationship to similar discussions over revolution versus reform,

and radical versus liberal tradition.

Jamie: I would like for it (OTB) to get its non-profit status, yes. And I

definitely think it’s possible. I don’t necessarily think that it profits

any individual, but non-profits profit the commonwealth.

Teresa: Back in January I signed on with Move to Amend, our local

chapter in Santa Clara County. And I know that a lot of Occupy

people have. And it was nice because our former Occupy attorney,

Jan, went over to join Move to Amend. And it is nice to be working

with her. Very different crowd, Move to Amend. The demographic of

our local chapter, at least our Santa Clara County one, were a

different demographic. In standing back and looking at really the

downturn we have undergone, all of the attacks at people at large, I

couldn’t—I really tried to trace it back and came back down to the

rise of the corporation. And really everything that I’ve seen, we can’t

really turn things around, in my opinion, until we get this problem

fixed with Citizen’s United. With getting Corporate Personhood

overturned. With getting the 28th amendment to the Constitution

saying corporations are not people. And that was the biggest frickin’

mistake this country has ever, ever made.

Steven: There are people in our group who are very vocal like, “we

don’t want to have anything to do with Moveon.” For me, I’m pretty

skeptical about Moveon but my thing is, as long as we’re not

working within the organization, we are just working kind of

together on things we agree on, that I’m fine with.

Labor Unions

The Occupy Movement has overwhelmingly stood in support of

workers around the world. From the beginning of Occupy Wall

Street and its many offshoots, Unions have come out to contribute

and show support for the movement. Union workers have played

pivotal roles through participation and provide valuable organizing

experience. Yet just as non-profits are tricky terrain, so are Labor

Unions when it comes to collaboration. Some activists are

concerned that Labor Union leaders often side too much with those

in political power, and do not necessarily fight in the best interest of

the workers. However, overwhelmingly Occupiers have looked

beyond that concern to support Unions and workers in any way

possible. Since Unions themselves do not always have the numbers

needed to make an impact during a strike, Occupy has been seen as

a powerful ally in that they can provide ample bodies to support the

cause. While there is a great deal of ongoing solidarity work

between Occupy and Unions, the relationship has not been an easy

one. At Occupy Oakland, the decision to organize actions that

support Union workers without the support of Union bureaucrats

30

caused some tension. When Occupy Oakland organized the West

Coast Port Shutdown in support of the International Longshore and

Warehouse Union (ILWU) during their fight against Export Grain

Terminal (EGT) in Longview, Washington, without the public support

of Union leadership, some questioned the decision (Thompson,

2012). However, the impact of the Port Shutdown, and a threat by

Occupiers to come to Longview to support workers on the ground,

are credited as actions that helped lead to negotiations between

the ILWU and EGT. While collaborations between Occupy and

Unions can be seen as a slippery slope from either side, the political

power of such alliances cannot be underestimated. As Unions

continue to decline, alliances between protestors (many workers

themselves) and rank and file workers provide greater opportunities

for larger direct actions that disrupt the flow of capital and increase

public spectacle to ensure that labor efforts receive the public

attention they deserve. In the commitment to support workers,

some Occupies have also introduced efforts to organize un-

unionized laborers, such as precarious workers, fast-food

employees, and even the unemployed.

Steven: One of the things that we have been learning about [our]

County is that, not only is the government a little more right-wing,

but the unions are more right wing. Like, they pushed for this

development--they also pushed for the new county jail which—if the

ACLU went to the county board of sups and said, “we don’t need this

jail;” minority groups went to the county board of sups and said,

“more funding for schools, not jail,” but the buildings and trades

union labor council said, “we want this jail, regardless of the cost.”

Outreach and Getting Out Into Communities

Throughout the movement, a variety of tactics for outreach have

been employed. Door to door outreach efforts seek both the

perspectives and participation of community members not yet

involved. Other strategies for community outreach involve capacity

building and self-sufficiency in ways that allow us to rely less on

corporations and the government. Barbecues and potlucks bring

out a great deal of people who are curious about the movement,

but may not know much about it, or may not have felt comfortable

jumping into General Assemblies or Working Groups. These are

opportunities for providing important community trainings and for

the exchange, between Occupiers and community members, of

knowledge, perspectives and experiences. Community gardening

projects on empty lots or unused blighted land serve the same

purpose and introduce sustainable sources of healthy food to local

communities, which can then participate in the gardening and the

direction of the action. Outreach-based activities also tend to be

the most popular, appealing to a broad array of political ideologies

and perspectives. At the end of the day, most people do want to

create sustainable communities, and gardening or feeding children

is an excellent starting point because it gets people out of their

houses and into new spaces where they can dialogue with others

and learn about what’s happening around them. Efforts at political

literacy for adults and free schools for children and youth are also

popular projects that incorporate the broader community and

provide the types of resources community members want.

Broader outreach and movement building efforts seek to build from

the energy of local sites of activism. Inter-Occupy has set out to

31

create a dialogue among local sites of resistance to strengthen

solidarity and strategy. Global alliances and solidarity actions with

Occupiers that have seen harsh political repression have been

ongoing since the beginning of the movement. Individual Occupiers

have been travelling from city to city, and town to town, to learn

about new strategies, share experiences and to provide trainings

(such as Less Wall More Street). The vast system of communication

that has made these efforts so efficient includes Indy media outlets,

Occupy-based publications and zines, twitter, facebook, livestream

and websites like Rise-Up that enable safe spaces for online

organizing.

Myriam: The concept of going to the community and giving people a

chance to tell us what they think about us, to give people a chance

to hear what we’re really trying to do, you know, was perfect -- the

idea of organizing with communities in whatever way – getting

involved in campaigns that are happening within communities like

Brooms was doing.

Marie: I still want to march in the neighborhoods. I’ve been asking

that for MONTHS. “Can we please march in the neighborhoods?” Of

course I haven’t brought it up recently and now since we don’t have

a Saturday march that…because I wanted to march in the

neighborhoods. I really felt that because everybody’s in their little

nest here. Even this neighborhood—it’s still a varied neighborhood,

though.

Steven: Well, it’s interesting because I think the biggest hurdle for us

is that a lot of people—I mean you’d be surprised but a lot of people

don’t even know what Occupy is or what Occupy Wall Street is, even

to this day. Like, even if they do know, they don’t know that Occupy

[the Bay] exists. So in that sense the Outreach hasn’t worked. So, but

if they do know, their sense, a lot of time, is what they hear in the

Media. And like, a lot of people just think, Occupy=Occupy Oakland

=Black Bloc. And you know, they just made that mental leap. And it’s

been interesting; we’ve done a few bank shutdowns and protests

where, people have literally yelled at us saying “you guys are funded

by George Soros!” (laughs) and I’m like, “if we were funded, I would

be doing this every day, not you know, once a month.” So, it’s

interesting because, you’d think people are smarter than that, but,

from dealing with the public; you do see a lot of those

misconceptions come up. A lot of people do ask, “Who do you get

funded by?” and “so you’re in touch with Oakland, aren’t you?” and

“you’re in touch with New York City, aren’t you?” You know, “who’s

running the show?” Or they still ask, “I’m totally behind you guys but

like, you guys don’t have a consistent message.”

THE FUTURE OF OCCUPY

Occupy One Year Later

Since January of 2012 there has been great speculation among the

media and the public as to how the Occupy Movement would be

able to survive post-encampment. Each Occupy site we have been

involved with has lessened in numbers, and this coincides with the

destruction of the encampments, successful police repression,

negative media spin, internal conflict, and organizing burnout.

However, each of these sites of protest remains and the struggle is

ongoing. Whether some Occupies fizzle out or become something

new, this first stretch has set a significant precedent for what may

32

come in future struggles for resistance. A new generation of young

people has come to challenge the existing order and many will

remain politically active. They have been joined by and have

learned from seasoned activists with experience ranging from the

Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements to Global Justice and

Anonymous. The scope of technology, media and instant

communication across the globe has opened up new possibilities for

protest and for building global solidarity. The scale of the Occupy

Movement has been the largest and most public ongoing protest in

decades in the United States. A new era of political consciousness

has erupted and new perspectives about how the world works and

how we can make it better are not easily forgotten. As hard as

Occupy activists have worked, they have also learned a great deal

about what works, what doesn’t work, and how to pace themselves

in organizing and action. Rather than lamenting the end of the

Occupy Movement, we should be asking “what will happen next?”

The first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street is on September 17th,

2012, and this will be followed by local anniversaries across the

country and globally.

The Future of the Occupy Movement

As different Occupies struggled to maintain strength, unity and

collaborative prowess coming into 2012, activists wondered: What

types of actions will be necessary to continue the trajectory of the

movement? How can we maintain the movement and continue to

build the ranks? Clearly, the actions taken to continue the

movement have been as broad and diverse as the cities where they

have taken place. While some held weekly marches to show that

Occupy is not going away, others went after larger scale actions

such as building take-overs, or put their efforts into community

outreach.

Beyond attempts to build the movement, a significant amount of

work has also been done to sustain those activists already involved

and to explore how they can continue to work together successfully.

At Occupy Oakland, attempts were made to increase outreach

through community barbecues. In many cities, Occupiers began

attending City Council meetings. Inter-Occupy, a coalition of

Occupy’s that meet by teleconference, and activists from Occupy

Philly worked together to organize an Occupy National Gathering

(NatGat) that was held in Philadelphia over the July 4th weekend.

While their goal was a visioning exercise about what a democratic

future might look like, many participants felt the most rewarding

aspect of NatGat was the ability for activists to share stories and

strategies from their sites of occupation, and to adopt new ideas

and tactics (Trimarco 2012). The conclusive document from the

event, A Vision for a Democratic Future (2012), lists the changes

activists envision, for example: 203 people hope for “clean water,

air, and food,” 186 people desire to see “free education for all,” 158

envisioned “no war,” 116 mentioned “sustainable human society,”

and 110 foresee, “a culture of direct democracy.”

Thoughts on the Future

Teresa: I think really as we see more job loss, as we see the unions

start to really buckle, the teachers, and the students are unable to

go back in the fall because they can’t afford their loans anymore, as

more people are forced out of their homes and can’t afford

healthcare, I think we are going to see a resurgence of, at least not

33

Occupy but people coming out to the street in one form or another,

in one group or another. One coalition. One cause or another,

coming out back to the streets. Because times will force them out.

It’ll happen, and I’m just kinda waiting for that.

Carrie: I feel more optimistic toward local issues than national.

Because I feel like it’s a small enough town that we could contact

people....I feel like we could really be grass roots and well-informed

and vocal, so I feel like the potential for being really involved and

even successful is pretty good as far as that issue on a local level. As

Marie says “I don’t think it’s going away.” And it’s very much

connected to the national stuff. That’s going to take all of our

energy and hope and creativity to address. But I think that [if] a

bunch of people started camping out on Wall Street last fall then

stuff is pretty glaringly bad and I think that people have it in them to

be creative on a national level too. So I do kind of feel hopeful.

TBG: The future of Occupy really lies with the motivators, I guess I

could say, because one way or another, there are certain people

who could motivate. Some people are good motivators and

facilitators. They’re good at it. Why not do it if you’re good at it?

Efficiency is important.

Myriam: There was the phase of the camp. You know, and there

was the phase of the General Strike and the big GAs and all that.

And then there was the phase after Move-In Day, you know, to May

Day. And then there’s the post-May Day phase that’s kind of like a

big drop-off. Um, I think whatever comes in the future, we’re gonna

see that it was in debt to Occupy Oakland, you know? That Occupy

Oakland is the seeds or roots of something…we don’t know yet

what.

TBG: I personally feel it’s gonna get even more crazy these next four

months going through Christmas through New Years. I’d like to see

how, not only Occupy Oakland, but all the Occupy’s take in their own

little anniversaries. Anniversaries are where they’ll make plans for

the next year, you know? This has been a very interesting year. A

lot of folks have learned a lot of things about a lot of people. And

regardless of who’s the president, we’re gonna be here doing this

probably, so…(trails off laughing).

CONCLUSION

Jesse: People change in the course of engaging in these events.

People came to feed homeless people, and that’s pretty much all it

was, and that made them different people. And then when they got

shot and gassed for it, that made them even more…uh, radicalized is

a word…I don’t like that word. I like the word sophistication. People

are sophisticated, and they’re becoming more intelligent, and more

empathic, and more aware. And there are a lot of lessons I learned

that I never learned from school or work. It’s just been personally

enriching. And we’re bettering ourselves by doing this. Whether or

not the tactics approach the system I think is irrelevant because

we’re changing.

Whether through personal experience or conversations with

Occupiers, we have noticed that people really have changed as a

result of their participation in Occupy. People have developed a new

level of understanding of the way the world can be, while cultivating

empathy, knowledge, and skills. For some, Occupy has meant a new

34

chance to fight for their communities and create new ones, while

for others it has also meant working towards the country they want

be a part of. Regardless of participants’ backgrounds or political

ideologies, this has included forging new relationships with a

diverse and passionate group of people committed to social justice

and freedom. We have also experienced this change trajectory on a

personal level. Not only were we able to grow as people and

Occupiers, but we also have developed a more nuanced

understanding of our respective cities and the many communities

within them. Our goal with this pamphlet is to provide an

opportunity for Occupiers to grow and learn from each other.

Regardless of the future of Occupy, the movement has shifted the

national narrative and disseminated knowledge of horizontal

organization while normalizing direct action.

35

SOURCES AND RELATED READINGS

D, Davey 2012 NY Times Underestimates Oakland Radicals. Dominion of New York. Electronic document, http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/2012/08/10/ny- times-underestimates-oaklands-radicals/#.UEuMeVTo-2x, accessed September 5, 2012. Gabbatt, Andrew, Mark Townsend, and Lisa O’Carroll 2011 “‘Occupy’ anti-capitalism protests spread around the world. The Guardian Online, 15 October. Graeber, David 2009 Direct Action: An Ethnography. Oakland: AK Press. Ho, Karen 2009 Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. Durham: Duke University Press. Juris, Jeffrey 2012 Reflections on #Occupy Everywhere: Social media, public space, and emerging logics of aggregation. In American Ethnologist 39(2):259-279. Kim, Richard 2011 The Audacity of Occupy Wall Street. The Nation, 21 November. Maeckelburgh, Marianne 2009 Introduction: The Unglamorous Side of Glory. Will of the Many: How the Alterglobalisation Movement is Changing the Face of Democracy. Pluto Press.

Mahler, Jonathon 2012 Oakland, the Last Refuge of Radical America. The New York Times. Electronic document, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/magazine/oakland- occupy- movement.html? r=1&pagewanted=all, accessed September 8, 2012. Occupy National Gathering 2012 A Vision for a Democratic Future. Electronic document, http://www.occupynationalgathering.com/#!/vision-for- democratic-future/, accessed September 5, 2012. Razsa, Maple and Andrej Kurnik 2012 The Occupy Movement in Žižek’s hometown: Direct democracy and a politics of becoming. In American Ethnologist 39(2):238-258. Schneider, Nathan 2011 “From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Everywhere.” The Nation, 31 October. Tett, Gillian 2009 Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe. Free Press. Thompson, Gabriel 2012 Labor + Occupy: A Match Made in…The Nation. April 2, 2012. Trimarco, James 2012 5 Good Ideas from Occupy National Gathering. Electronic document,

36

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/5-good-ideas- from-occupy2019s-national-gathering, accessed September 5, 2012. Eds. Khatib, Kate, Margaret Killjoy and Mike McGuire 2012 We Are Many: Critical Reflections on Movement Strategy from Occupation to Liberation. Oakland: AK Press. Ed. Sarah van Gelder 2009 This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Eds. Schrager Lang, Amy and Daniel Lang/Levitsky 2012 Dreaming in Public: Building the Occupy Movement. World Changing. Eds. Carla Blumenkranz, Keith Gessen, Mark Greif, Sarah Leonard, Sarah Resnick, Nikil Saval, Eli Schmitt, and Astra Taylor 2011 Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America. Verso Books. Ed. Janet Byrne 2012 The Occupy Handbook. Back Bay Books. The Occupied Wall Street Journal - http://occupiedmedia.org/ Occupy Research - http://www.occupyresearch.net/ Understanding the Occupy Movement: Perspectives from the Social Sciences - http://bjsonline.org/2011/12/understanding-the-occupy-movement-perspectives-from-the-social-sciences/ HOT SPOTS - OCCUPY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND THE 2011 GLOBAL UPRISINGS - http://www.culanth.org/?q=node/641